Plan for bus lanes on part of Barnet High Street provokes heated debate with motorists warning of congestion

Residents, shopkeepers and bus passengers are among those who have been invited to give their views on a controversial plan to introduce bus lanes along much of the busiest section of Barnet High Street — between the Wood Street junction at the parish church and the junction with Meadway.

Barnet Council is working with Transport for London on plans to introduce bus lanes at three new locations – Barnet High Street, Ballards Lane and Regents Park Road.

Details are available on the council’s website: https://www.engage.barnet.gov.uk/hub-page/bus-lanes

People wishing to give their views can complete on online questionnaire. The deadline for comments is Tuesday 17 September.

According to the council around 6,700 bus passengers either board or alight each weekday at stops in this section of Barnet High Street which is served by 11 bus routes.

Surveys have shown that there are delays to both southbound and northbound services which would be alleviated by rush-hour bus lanes – operating Monday to Saturday from 7-10am and 4-7pm.

Since the council published details of the bus lane consultation on July 30 there has been considerable comment online about the plan with a variety of opinions.

While there is some support for giving buses priority, there is widespread criticism of what is considered an unnecessary restriction on traffic flowing along the High Street which it is argued will only cause further congestion and delays for other motorists.

When details first emerged earlier this year of TfL’s proposal to include Barnet High Street in the Mayor of London’s objective to create 25kms of new bus lanes across London, the former Conservative MP Theresa Villiers launched a petition against what she said was an unwanted scheme.

During her unsuccessful general election campaign to retain the Chipping Barnet seat, she promised that if re-elected she would have continued to oppose the introduction of a “disruptive” bus lane when the Council’s priority should be to repair potholes.

In setting out the case for the introduction of three-metre-wide bus lanes, the council says that passenger numbers on bus routes passing through Barnet have increased to 208,000 trips per day.

However, passengers wait approximately 20 per cent longer than intended on high-frequency routes and travelling within the borough by car is typically two to four times faster than taking the bus.

If bus lanes were introduced in the proposed section of the High Street, TfL says bus journey times would improve for the 34, 84B, 107, 184, 234, 263, 326, 383, 384 and 389 routes.

The northbound bus lane would be between the junctions with Meadway and Fitzjohn Avenue and the southbound bus lane would be between the junctions with Wood Street and Normandy Avenue.

No loading will be permitted when the bus lanes are operational (7-10am and 4-7pm) but the inset parking bays on the southbound side between Wood Street and Meadway will not be affected and there will be no parking loss as a result.

To improve access for buses the kerb will be re-aligned outside the Red Lion public house and a bus stop on the other side of the road, near the junction with Park Road, will be relocated by seven metres.

Once the consultation period has closed on 17 September, the council says it will consider the feedback to help determine if the scheme should be implemented and what action should be taken to address concerns that have been raised.

If anyone is unable to complete the questionnaire online and would like to request a paper copy or another format of the questionnaire, please email highwayscorrespondence@barnet.gov.uk (External link) or telephone the Traffic and Development Section on 020 8359 3555 and quote reference BC/2250-54.